“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1–2, KJV 1900)
I was in high school and college in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Those who lived in this era will remember the state of our country during this time. The Vietnam conflict was in full swing. The country seemed in turmoil. People wanted peace. It seemed that hope was lost. Yet, things are not much different today. People still look for peace in their busy lives. They still have hopes and yet their hopes and aspirations are not assured. They also do not know where to go to find the answers.
We as believers are on a different track than those outside the faith. Paul gives us three blessings that are ours because “we have been justified by faith.” First, we have peace with God. Strong’s indicates that this word refers to a state of national tranquility. We now can take a deep breath and breath easy because we have been counted righteous.
The second thing Paul gives us here is that now we have access by faith. Formerly, our sin separated us from access to the Father. Christ died on the cross for our sins and now through faith in Him we stand in grace and have access to God.
Last, Paul indicates that we now have hope of future glory. This is not a hope like the world has, which is “I hope so.” For the believer, hope is the confident assurance of that which is promised. We have an eternal “hope of the glory of God.” We have eternal life and one day we will be in God’s very presence in a state capable of experiencing the fullness of His glory and also partaking of His glory (2 Cor 4:17; Col 3:4; 2 Thess 2:14; 1 Pet 5:1). For this reason, we continuously rejoice or glory in this hope.
Renewing the Heart 